What I want
by Not always a Bookworm
Summary: It's the trio's 6th year, and emotions are developing quickly, even in the heart of our favourite potions master. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Snape realize just exactly what they want. Fluff. Discontinued until further notice.
1. Chapter 1

_First day of school, Potions office_

-_This day is not going well. I woke up early this morning to the most annoying birdsong ever. Then I got here and discovered my storeroom in a horrible mess. __And__ today is the first day of school. Dear Salazar, shall I have a rough year. Drat. I must head towards the Great Hall and endure the abominal sorting yet again. But...perhaps I might see her again. The one for whom I long, the one who must be the reincarnation of a woman long gone. Ah, I must hurry! _

_Great Hall, Opening feast_

_- Oh Grindlewald! She is as beautiful as ever. But—**Potter**--is talking and laughing with her! Oh bloody horcruxes! Curse this aging body!_

_First day of classes, 5__th__ year Potions_

_-Her class is about to start. I do hope no other bloody Gryffindors cause trouble today._

BANG!

Snape whirled around from his journal in the storeroom and swept back into his classroom where he had the 5th years simmering the Draught of Desire. "WHO has the GALL to disrupt my class, ESPECIALLY on the first day of my year of MISERY teaching you DUNDERHEADS?!" His piercing gaze swept around his classroom and landed on a certain, smoking, red-headed girl sitting in the middle row in front of a burnt cauldron.

"Miss Weasley! Please explain why you have so kindly disrupted the peace and quiet of my class?" he said menacingly through his teeth, hoping his eyes wouldn't give him away. Or the cursed beating of his frantic shell of a heart.

Ginny Weasley looked down, avoiding the eyes that were boring through her, ignoring the snickers coming from the Slytherin half of the room. "I-I'm sorry Professor. I think I might have brewed the wrong amount of unicorn hairs."

Snape glided over to her cauldron and bent down, observing the charred remains. As he bent over a little, a small breeze blew in from under the door, and he caught a whiff of the flowery scent of Ginny's shampoo amid the smell of burnt hair. His heart beat faster, and he had to restrain himself from pressing his face into her hair and breathing deeply.

He promptly straightened up, a faint tinge to his cheeks. "It turns out you did not add the spider milk after stirring counterclockwise 15 times. 5 points from Gryffindor." He wanted to give her detention too, so he could have the pleasure of having her alone with him for the evening, but that was a little too much. He hastily retreated back into the storeroom and took deep breaths.

What seemed like an eternity later, the bell rang and the 5th years gathered up their things and headed for the door. As Ginny headed for the door, Markus Nossrell of Slytherin crept up behind her, and tugged on a lock of burnt black hair.

"What a fine head of hair you have! Keep using this product and pretty soon your hair'll be as black as Potter's! I'm sure he'll notice you then!" Snape clenched and unclenched his hands behind them.

Ginny spun around and let loose a string of profanities that she could have learned from none other than Fred, George, and Ron. Snape pounced at the chance.

"Detention, Miss Weasley. 7:00, my office." Ginny gritted her teeth, turned, and left. Markus waited a moment, grinning, then followed. Snape fought the urge to leap for joy.

-_I do believe I have detention with her this evening! It's almost like a date!_

_Oh dear Merlin. Detention already. I'm starting to take after Fred and George. _Ginny Weasley made her way towards the library, where she was sure she would find Hermione, first day of school as it was. As she walked through the halls, her ears started to burn and her face flushed almost as red as her hair underneath the coat of soot as she listened to the snickers and snide comments that followed her.

"Bad hair day Weasel-girl?"

"Nice taste in highlights!"

"What's with the new makeup?"

Relieved, Ginny slipped into the library and spotted Hermione in the far corner poring over a large book that was no doubt _Hogwarts, A History_. Again.

"Hermione!"

The bushy-haired 6th year looked up at her friend's voice, and gasped in shock. Ginny's face and the hair framing it was black, and she had a smoky smell around her. Her robes around her shoulders were smoking and tattered.

"What _happened_ to you?!" Ginny sighed, moved a stack of books from a chair, dragged it to Hermione and sat down, wiping at her face with her robes.

"Potions disaster. We were making the Draught of Desire and I forgot to add the spider milk after stirring and instead went ahead and put in the essence of centaur sweat. Not a good idea. I'll need to write mum for a new cauldron."

"Oh no!" Hermione exclaimed. "What did Snape do?"

"Deducted 5 points from Gryffindor. I was surprised. But then when I was leaving, Markus Nossrell started teasing me. And I couldn't do nothing! So I...copied Fred and George's language." Ginny flushed darker. "So now I have detention tonight."

Ginny gave up on her robes and started to stand up to go to the girls' room to wash off, then stopped. "Um, Hermione?"

"Hmm?"

"You don't suppose you could do anything about...you know...my hair?" Hermione stood up and took out her wand.

"Of course!" she pointed her wand at Ginny's burnt locks and muttered a few choice words. In a flash, her hair was back to normal, and fell neatly around her face and down to her shoulder blades. In another minute, her robes were also repaired and straightened. Now the only thing left was her face.

"Thanks Hermione! I owe you one!" Ginny picked up her bag and rushed out towards the girls' room.

She was concentrating on the floor as she ran, trying not to let anyone see her face when she promptly ran into someone and fell to the floor.

"Ow!" Ginny, rubbing her head, looked up into the vivid green eyes of Harry Potter. Her ears grew bright red, and she couldn't make herself look away.

"Are you okay?" Harry asked, concerned. "I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention." he held out a hand and helped her up. Ginny noticed with a flush of pleasure that he didn't let go. "Uh, no, it's my fault. I wasn't looking where I was going." He peered at her. "What happened to your face? It's all black." He reached out and brushed a thumb along her cheek. Ginny repressed shivers of pleasure.

"Uh...Uh..." He had started stroking her cheek with the back of his hand, brushing off the soot from the explosion. "Um...S-Snape..." Why was it so hard to think? He stopped suddenly. "Snape?" She resisted the urge to pout, not welcoming the sudden clarity of her mind.

"I was in potions and forgot an ingredient. The cauldron blew up in respond. My hair and robes were worse, but Hermione helped me out." her breath caught in her throat as he grinned. "B-but after class Markus Nossrell teased me. So I kinda mouthed him off and received detention." Watching his face, she didn't notice his hand curling into a fist at his side at the mention of Markus. She grinned. "I'm going to have to write mum for a new cauldron after I clean this off my face," her smile dimmed. "I'm worried about if we can afford it..." she blushed, something she seemed to be doing often lately. Harry's eyes softened and his jaw relaxed.

"I can pay for one," he offered. Ginny shook her head. "Oh, I don't want you to have to do that, I'm sure we can..." she trailed off as Harry gazed at her intensely. "Please, I want to do this for you."

_For you..._

"Uh...are you sure you want to?"

"Yes. I'll have the order sent by this afternoon, promise." He put a hand on her shoulder and her knees weakened. "Don't get into any more trouble till then, ok?" he grinned and with a final squeeze of her shoulder, left. Ginny sighed happily, then continued towards the girls' room, a new spring in her step.


	2. Chapter 2

_What came over me back there?? _Harry wondered. He hadn't wanted to ever let go of her hand, and it felt good to stroke her cheek. He shook his head and tried to clear the jumbled thoughts and emotions threatening to engulf him.

"Hey, Harry!" Ron ran up behind him. "Come on, we have to find Hermione so we can eat!"

Harry rolled his eyes and followed his friend. They found Hermione in the library. No surprise there.

Ron ran up to her.

"Hermione, aren't you hungry?" he laid a hand on her shoulder and she turned slightly pink.

"Uh..." Ron grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the door. There was no doubt about it: Hermione was definitely red. And just before they disappeared around the corner towards the stairs, Harry saw the bright red tips of Ron's ears. He chuckled. When would they realize that they were so obviously in love with each other? He knew Ron's reason, but what was Hermione's? He decided to talk to Ginny about it later.

Ginny...just the thought of her made Harry feel warm and safe all over. What pained him was that he knew that she had once liked him, but now she showed no sign of it. It tore him apart knowing that he had missed his chance to grab her and hold her tight. Cursing silently, he followed Ron and Hermione to the Great Hall. When he arrived at the Gryffindor table, they were already deep into yet another argument. Sitting a ways away was Ginny, looking very exasperated. He sat next to her, silently reprimanding his heart.

"Hey,"

She looked at him and smiled. "Hi."

He jerked his head to Ron and Hermione. "What's this one about?"

Ginny rolled her eyes. "They came in and sat down; Ron started stuffing his face, exclaiming he was _starving_." she snorted. "Hermione asked _why_ would he _ever_ think he should mimic Dudley." she paused while Harry laughed. "Dudley's your fat cousin, right?"

"Right," choked Harry.

"I thought so."

Ginny gazed off into the distance, giving Harry some time to pull himself under control again.

"Hey Ginny?"

"Yeah?"

"Why doesn't Hermione realize that Ron likes her? Ron just doesn't want to admit it because he's still sore about the whole Victor Krum thing and he's in denial about her liking him back, but what about her?"

Ginny sighed. "She thinks that he doesn't like her and never will. I once asked how she knows he doesn't like her and she said that he wouldn't argue with her if he did. She doesn't realize that since they care so much about what the other thinks of them that in result they're always tense around each other trying not to make mistakes. As a result, they often end up fighting."

"Yeah." they sat together in silence for a while, listening to their friends fighting.

"I DID NOT say that Ronald! I simply said--"

"Well if you had been minding your own business--!"

"How could I ignore it?! You were spraying food all over, how was I supposed to IGNORE that? You're so immature!"

"Immature, am I? Then what about _YOU_?!"

"_WHAT_ about me?"

"About how you're so stuck-up!"

Ron froze, realizing what he had just said. Hermione, Ginny, and Harry froze as well.

"...Stuck up?" Hermione's voice was faint and small.

"Hermione, I..."

"Stuck up?! You think I'm_ stuck up_?!" Hermione's voice grew shrill. "Who's the one who checks your homework? Who's the one who helps you learn spells? Who's the one who cares about you and Harry? And you call me _stuck up_?! Despite all that?!" Her voice grew quiet again, and deadly. "I am sick and tired of you always depending on others, using me, and making a mountain out of a molehill, Ronald Weasley. Guess what? You can do your own homework now. You and Harry can be best friends again, just like it used to be." tears were running down her face as she spoke. "If I'm so stuck up, then it's no wonder I won't have any friends. Sound familiar?" with that, she got up and swept out of the Great Hall. Ron stared after her in shock.

"Oh dear. See you around, Harry." Ginny muttered, and followed Hermione.

"...Harry?" Ron's voice was small and hesitant, and his face was white.

"Yeah?"

"...What's making a mountain out of a molehill?"

Harry sighed. "Making something out of nothing. And...Hermione's kinda right you know." Ron stared at him.

"Just saying, mate."

Ron looked at his plate for a minute, then got up and walked outside. Harry shook his head.

"Hey Neville, could you pass me those mashed potatoes?"

* * *

_I called her stuck up...I said she was stuck up..._Ron sighed, and ran a hand through his hair. _I'm so stupid..._

He'd been fighting with Hermione for as long as he could remember. Why, he wasn't sure. But whenever he and Hermione were together it always seemed to end up bad. _She probably hates me now... _He didn't use her...did he?

_Oh, Hermione..._He loved her, loved everything about her. Her hair, her eyes, her personality, the way she said "Oh, Ron...", even the way she fought with him. He couldn't look at her without the tips of his ears growing red.

But what had she meant by talking about having no friends? Ron gasped. Was she going to back off? Distance herself from them? He could never see her again! Ron grit his teeth. He was going to solve this once and for all.


End file.
